Monday, July 23, 2007

These boots are made for walkin'

On Saturday morning, around 9:30am, I went for a very lovely stroll to the grocery store (which is not close by the way). The sun was shining, it was relatively cool still, and the streets were quiet. As usual, I was listening to my iPod. The song My Moon, My Man by Feist, from her album "The Reminder," (iTunes) came on. Turns out, this is the perfect "going for a walk" song. The tempo is just right so that I walk briskly but without too much effort. I listened to the song a few times over to keep my perfect pace going. If there was no one else on the street I was on, I even sang along. Then I decided to look for other good walking songs. Here are 10 songs (in no particular order) that I think are great walking songs.

Consider This
, by Anna Nalick, from her album "Wreck of the Day" (iTunes). Not quite as perfect as the Feist song, but still good. Plus it's beat is kind of funky/jazzy so it puts a little dance in my step.

Le Disko by Shiny Toy Guns, from the album "We Are Pilots" (iTunes) makes you feel like you're walking down a run way. It's a very sexy rock song. It makes you want to stop and pose for the cameras. Luckily, I resisted this urge and kept the fact that I was walking down the streets of Brooklyn in mind.

I am in Love with You by Imogen Heap, from her album "Speak For Yourself" (iTunes) is another sexy walking song. Maybe a little bit slow, but if you're in the mood for a more leisurely walk then that's fine.

Mayan Pilot by Splashdown, from the album "Redshift" (iTunes unavailable). Another kind of jazzy/funky song, it's hard for me to walk to this song without singing along and grooving. When I worked at the Gap years ago, they played this song and it was one of the only ones they played that I didn't get horribly sick of after hearing the same 20 songs looped over and over and over. Although, I must admit, that first half of the summer, they had a pretty good compilation CD going. I had never heard of any of the songs they played, so it actually did take me a while to get sick of them. Other artists I discovered from this compilation include The Magnetic Fields and Elefant (both of whom I started hearing a lot of like 2 years later, so props to The Gap for being ahead of the times with the music).

Beware of the Dog by british pop artist Jamelia from her album "Walk With Me" (iTunes unavailable), which is along the same vein of Rihanna's "SOS." Jamelia samples the music of "Personal Jesus" by Depeche Mode (and covered by greats like Johnny Cash, Marilyn Manson and Tori Amos among others) but then takes the song and basically completely re-writes it and makes it her own. I really like this whole re-invention of 80s songs trend. It's sexy but still has rock flavor, and I am not sure I could take one more straight cover of "Personal Jesus."

And now for some male influence (although there are men in Shiny Toy Guns), Spread Your Love by Black Rebel Motorcycle Club, from their self-titled album (iTunes). There's a reason they're called BRMC. This song definitely makes me want to ride a motorcycle. But since I don't have a motorcycle, it's a great song to take a walk to.

Then we have Unconditional by The Bravery, also from their self-titled album (iTunes). The lyrics in this song ring a little too true to me sometimes though, so if I'm not in a really good mood this song can be detrimental to my emotional state. Still a great song with a great beat nonetheless.

Pretty much any song by Teddybears, but I particularly like Different Sound (iTunes) or Little Stereo (iTunes), from their album "Soft Machine" and I think they have great rhythm for walking. The other great thing about Teddybears is that all their songs sound so different so you can listen to their whole album on a walk and feel like you were listening to all different genres of music. The only thing all their songs really have in common is a great upbeat rhythm.

This is song #11, but it's a song I have already posted and I posted two songs by Teddybears, so I'm not counting it: Get Off by The Dandy Warhols, from their album "Thirteen Tales from Urban Bohemia" (iTunes). This song is so... bouncy. I don't know if that makes any sense to anyone but me, but that's just the word that comes to my mind when I hear this song. It makes me bob my head up and down and puts a little bounce in my step. Bouncy. I don't mean it in a negative way. This is one of my favorite songs of all time.

Man, there are so many more that I want to post... But I will stop here. Enjoy. Stay out of the rain. Tata dahlings.

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